Swamps and Spring Stir-Crazys

[GoDawgs]

We had another 1.5” rain yesterday and overnight. It’s a swamp out there again. It happens every year and this is why fall and early spring plantings are put in the upper half of the garden! The submerged area on the far side was supposed to be corn this year but with my knee recovery it will be too much to do prep and planting. The other large space will house Tahitian melon squash and maybe something else.





March 11-12 is the next moon window for planting root crops but I think the beds will still be too wet to work. Carrots, turnips, radishes and potatoes are on the schedule but that might have to be pushed back.

No sign of any peas popping yet. They were sown on 2/24 with soil temp at 58, then that dropped a few days later. Now it’s 50, kind of borderline. No lack of moisture, though! This is the pea bed three beds up from The Swamp with water between the beds. The other bed is farther up in the garden but no signs of life there either... yet.




On the plus side, the Zuchetta Rampicante seeds I saved tested 100% germination. I have a lot so if anyone wants some, just PM me.

I need to reseed jalapenos if they don’t come up today.

Good grief, I’m getting antsy. It’s too wet to play outside, seeds don’t need to be inventoried, there are no seeds that need starting right now and garden planning is up to date. Just making sure that veg sets already started stay watered. I baked bread yesterday but I might have to find something to play with in the kitchen today. No cookies though as we’re both on post-holiday diets.

Those of you still buried under snow or putting up with freezing temps have my heartfelt condolences but at least it’s steady. We don’t have that here but by golly, early bloomers like daffodils, tulip magnolias, cherry trees and Bradford pears are starting to bloom and that gets the blood going. Then that’s squashed by spates of cold temps and gloomy rain. Back and forth, back and forth. Mother Nature dangling bright, shiny trinkets of spring and then yanking them away when you reach for them. It’s enough to drive ya nuts!

[Shapshftr]

How do you ever get anything planted? I think I would make them all raised beds to avoid the swamps. Either that or I'd have a bunch of loads of black dirt brought in to make that area higher than the surrounding ground.

[GoDawgs]

Oh, it'll all dry out eventually. One side of the flooded area is used for corn that won't get planted until end of April. The other side is used for stuff that runs, like squashes and watermelon which won't get planted until May 1. Those two groups get switched back and forth between sides every year with field peas always following the corn. Everything else fits in the 16 raised beds above the open areas.

There's no real room to back in a dump truck of soil and besides, the last time I brought in some soil, the nematodes came in with it so I'm real leery of ever doing that again!

[Shapshftr]

I see, so you just have early and late planting beds. Makes sense. I've often wondered about the garden mix soil you can buy by the truck load. I would like to know what all they put into that stuff, and what the cost is. It's getting impossible to find good black dirt anymore. I also would worry about what you would be importing with such stuff.

[GoDawgs]

We've had chilly mornings around 32 degrees but it's been warming up nicely during the day. Most importantly, the SUN has been out! All of that standing water in the lower part of the garden is gone. I still don't dare stepping into that area for fear of sinking into ooze! Been there, done that.

The designated potato area has dried enough so that they will be planted on Thursday as planned. Yay! That had been a worry.

All of the peppers are finally up. The Jalapeno M were the last to pop up 14 days after sowing and I had about given up on it as the seed was from 2018. For me that's about at the edge of pepper seed viability. I need to collect more this summer.



On another shelf in the front are two 6-packs of asparagus that need to go out on the front porch to start hardening off. Also Shimonita scallions ready for hardening and planting and a newly sprouted batch of Warrior scallions for succession planting. More peppers in the back. I need to rearrange and put all of the peppers on one shelf.




These are the Shimonita scallions at the size I use for transplanting. They are about 1/8" in diameter and do just fine planted at that size.



This is the front porch hardening off area. On Thursday or Friday most of those assorted brassicas on the left will be planted out.



Today I need to prep one side of a bed for sowing carrots on Thursday or Friday. Being careful while doing so will be the operative phrase. The knee is doing well and as of yesterday's PT I'm getting 102 degrees of bend, the best yet. As of tomorrow I'm 6 weeks post-op and don't want to screw it up!